Abramovich hands over “stewardship” of Chelsea FC amid Ukraine war February 26, 2022 Roman Abramovich has handed over control of Chelsea FC to the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation. The move comes amid unprecedented pressure on those with ties to Vladimir Putin after the Russian President’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement on the football club’s website, Abramovich wrote: “I have always taken decisions with the Club’s [...]
Carabao Cup has enough fizz to make business sense despite what its critics say February 25, 2022 The Carabao Cup, which concludes on Sunday when Chelsea play Liverpool at Wembley, is perennially fending off calls for its demise and remains the butt of many a joke. Its future beyond 2024 remains uncertain, when an expanded Champions League is set to tighten the squeeze on English football’s secondary domestic cup competition. And it [...]
Exclusive: World’s biggest litigation funder Harbour strikes £2m deal with sports lawyers to fund ‘no win, no fee’ FIFA lawsuits February 24, 2022 Private litigation funder Harbour has struck a £2m deal with specialist law firm Morgan Sports Law, through which Harbour plans to cover footballers’ legal costs in employment disputes put forward on a “no win, no fee” basis. Harbour will cover any legal costs in disputes between professional footballers and their employers, and take a cut [...]
Championship Rugby’s deal with Premier Sports falls through February 24, 2022 Rugby fans should be witnessing one of the closest battles for promotion to the Premiership, with just five points currently separating four Championship teams in the tussle to go up. But in this most exciting of run-ins in the English second tier, they have been shut out of the action by a complete absence of [...]
Uefa calls meeting to move Champions League final from Russia February 24, 2022 European football’s governing body Uefa has called an extraordinary meeting for tomorrow morning when it is expected to strip Russia of the Champions League final. St Petersburg had been due to stage the biggest game in club football on 28 May but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week has seen pressure on Uefa to move [...]
Ed Warner: Russia has taken us all for fools, especially spineless Thomas Bach February 24, 2022 Second in the table of overall medals won isn’t half bad for a nation denied a place at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Russia has taken us all for fools. You if you watched any of it. Me for doing just that. All the sporting politicians who allow Russian athletes to compete. The greatest fool [...]
Southampton FC launches its own Bitcoin Hunt as English football dabbles in crypto February 23, 2022 Southampton Football Club has teamed up with Sportsbet.io to launch its first ever Bitcoin Hunt competition. Launching ahead of the game on Friday, it will give Southampton fans the chance to win a Bitcoin, which has this year been worth between £25,000, with a current price of £28,600. The competition is also set to extend [...]
Discovery sees record figures for Winter Olympics with over a billion minutes streamed February 23, 2022 Discovery has reported record Olympic Winter Games viewership and engagement on its digital platforms, as the household appeal of discovery+ drove significantly higher consumption and numbers of new paid subscribers compared to PyeongChang 2018.
KPMG ditches golfer Mickelson over Saudi breakaway tour row February 23, 2022 KPMG has terminated its long-standing sponsorship of Phil Mickelson in the wake of the US golfer’s comments supporting a proposed Saudi-backed tour. Mickelson apologised on Tuesday for remarks in which he pushed the case for a new circuit despite acknowledging Saudi Arabia’s “horrible record on human rights”. KPMG on Mickelson’s cap has been one of [...]
Jury out on Crystal Palace gamble ahead of reunion with Hodgson February 22, 2022 Crystal Palace face Roy Hodgson’s Watford tomorrow in a match that serves as a reminder of both their recent past and the significant gamble they have made on their future. After almost four unadventurous but reliable years under Hodgson, last summer Palace traded in the former England manager for a decidedly sexier brand of football [...]